Are They Sure These Are From Earth!? I’m Pretty Sure It’s Aliens.

A team of scientists sent a camera-equipped remote submarine 20,000 feet underwater, in a mostly unexplored deep sea off the coast of Puerto Rico.

What they saw was exhilarating.

The camera streamed footage in real-time to a group of researchers, which included a variety of aquatic wildlife and deep sea experts, who were able to observe and comment on what they saw in an online chatroom.

Over the course of twelve dives, the researchers recorded fifty types of deepwater coral, 100 species of fish, and hundreds of invertebrates. Many of the species filmed were previously unknown to science, or had never been observed in their natural habitat.

So far, two new species have already been classified: a brand new fish, and a new species of ctenophora, which is a type of jellyfish.

Matthew M. Sullivan holds a bachelor's degree in creative writing from Grand Valley State University, with emphases in fiction and nonfiction. He lives smack-dab between some railroad tracks and Grand Rapids Michigan's third-busiest road, and spends his time studying film and literary fiction.